Having defined what advocacy and Zionism are, we can begin to discuss the
basics of advocacy and persuasion in this and the following chapters.

This is a chapter about principles. They are not ideological principles.
Rather they are basic concepts important to advocacy. It is misleading to
call them techniques or strategies because that might lead people to think
they are "spinology," deception or rhetorical tricks. That is not the case.
A different chapter covers technical issues. Here we are trying to lay some
conceptual and ethical foundations.

Always
Tell the Truth

Never, never, never let someone persuade you to adopt a position you
know to be untrue. Never! In a way, though only in a way, you are like
the disciple of a religion. Truth is your biggest stock in trade. If you
do not believe in what you are saying and doing, you will not be
motivated to go on, because you are doing Israel advocacy voluntarily.
It will also generally be apparent to others. If you are caught in a few
"fibs", you have destroyed your credibility, and you will not be able to
convince others.

The need to tell the truth is one reason why you should be very
familiar with all the issues and history insofar as possible. You are
not the Israeli government or IDF however. You cannot know and nobody
should expect you to know information that is not public. Don't allow
yourself to be maneuvered into a position where you are answering
questions like "Will Israel bomb Iran?" How could you possibly know the
answer to that question without a crystal ball and a spy in the Israel
Ministry of Defense?

Do not ever engage in passing on hoax letters or propagating hoaxes.
Always check the reliability of sources. The reputation of advocacy
volunteers and information is the most precious and important asset we
have. The credibility of Arab "information" was destroyed for quite a
long time when Gamal Abdul Nasser was caught lying about supposed US
participation in the 1967
Six day war.

Do No Harm

The first principle of anything you do should be "Do No Harm." You can do
harm if:

Your statements can be shown to be false, implying that the arguments
they support are false.

Your actions, statements or slogans can be used to portray Zionism or
Jews as racists, extremists, warmongers, and reactionaries or hard hearted.

Your themes or "explanations" can be used to delegitimize Zionism.

Your statements offend particular groups or insult their leaders.

Examples of statements and actions that do harm:

Claim that there were almost no Arabs in Palestine circa 1900,
originating with Joan Peters, was easily shown to be false.

An article that advocated "nuking" Mecca.

An article that appeared in a Zionist publication, advocating a
particular stand about US health care policies that was in no way related to
Zionism or Israel. The title of the article called for denying medical care
to AIDS patients. What does that have to do with Zionism or Israel?

Excessive zeal in the cause of "peace" - a "Zionist" group featured a
film by anti-Zionist Azmi Bishara; a "pro-Israel" group insists that the
security fence is a "land grab." If these groups really have differences of
opinion with Israeli policy, they should find constructive ways to express
them.

Settlers who beat Arabs and uproot olive trees are used to show Israeli
brutality. The problem is not just "Hasbara." The actions themselves do
great harm to Israel and to Zionism, and the ideology they represent should
not have any place in Zionism.

Claim by right wing extremists and some others that Zionism was always
about use of force and that transfer was an integral part of Zionist
ideology. Both claims can be shown to be false, but advocacy of these
positions by persons who identify themselves as "Zionists" makes it easy to
paint Zionism as heartless and evil.

Holocaust - In 1948 and since, Zionist advocacy used the Holocaust
extensively as an emotional tool and as a rationale for "justifying" the
need for a Jewish state. The Holocaust was a tragic illustration of the
correctness of Zionist doctrine, but it should not be referred to as the
"reason" for creating a Jewish state, because it is not a good reason and it
was not the reason for Zionism, which began long before. It should not be
used to excuse extremism and errors in judgment on the part of Israeli Jews.
Zionist emphasis on the Holocaust helped to encourage the shibboleth that
Israel was created only because of European guilt over the Holocaust,
erasing the previous history of international commitment to a Jewish
national home and the history of Zionist construction and settlement in
Ottoman and mandatory times. Arabs were quick to say that they should not be
made to suffer because of the Holocaust, as though Jews had no other claim
on the land. The Islamic Republic of Iran may or may not be preparing second
Holocaust for the Jewish people, but the fact is that talking about it is
not going to do much good and won't convince many non-Jews that Iran is
dangerous. Explaining that Iran oppresses women and homosexuals, and that
Iran is seeking "A world without America" is probably going to be much more
effective.

"Anti-Semitism," like the Holocaust, has been overused and abused. It
should be applied only when appropriate and when its use can be defended. A
person who is opposed to the Israeli occupation is not an anti-Semite unless
they use anti-Semitic terminology and ideas. A person who claims "Zionists"
control the world or the U.S. government really is an anti-Semite.

"Advocacy" that brands all liberals or Democratic party voters as anti-Israel
people with dangerous "leftist" ideas. Over half the American public voted for
the Democratic party in the last election. Most of those people support Israel
Don't lose half your audience for no reason. Anti-Zionists are quite happy to
label all Zionists as "neo-cons." Don't fall into their trap.

Get the Facts Straight

You must get your facts right. For example, don't tell people
that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatened to wipe Israel off the map. He
never said that - it was a mistranslation. He said things that were
just as bad or worse, but he did not say, "Wipe Israel off the map."
If you attribute that to him, you may lose credibility. You will let
yourself in for a very long and irrelevant debate about the
different versions of what he said, and you will lose the debate.
Don't insist that there were no Arabs in the land of Israel before
the Zionists arrived. The population figures say otherwise. Don't
claim that Arabs started all the wars. Literally, it is not true,
though Israel had sufficient cause for the Suez Campaign and the
Six-Day War.

Learn to Shut up when Necessary

In some situations, the biggest contribution that one can make to Zionist
advocacy is to shut up. Knowing when to shut up is important. It is the most
important part of "doing no harm."

Examples:

A hostile telephone interviewer - You are being interviewed live by an
interviewer who is badgering your or twisting your words, and who will not let
you get your point across or even finish a sentence, Say politely, "It was nice
talking to you, but I'm afraid I have to go now," and hang up as graciously as
possible. Interviewers are usually very good at what they do and unless you are
adroit, you aren't going to outsmart the vicious ones.

Impaired capacity - An anti-Zionist interviewed drunken American students
in an Israeli bar. He got them to cuss out President Obama, use racial slurs and
exhibit their gross ignorance. One "expert" didn't know who Benjamin Netanyahu
is. If you have such views and they can't be corrected, please don't share them
in the name of Zionism or Israel. Never give an interview when your judgment is
impaired. The cameras were rolling. Over 600,000 people saw these interviews of
"racist Zionists." Even after the video had become infamous, the same
interviewer was able to entrap a second set of people.

Hostile media - Hostile media routinely go to the West Bank, find the
most extreme group of English speaking settlers imaginable. They get them to
make statements that paint Israel as a state of religious fanatics more extreme
than the Islamic Republic of Iran. If you live in the West Bank, and can't speak
responsibly and give a representative view, please do not give interviews. You
are not helping your cause. You are certainly not helping Zionism or the state
of Israel by making extreme statements. Even if you do give a reasonable
interview, be aware that your words may be excerpted, twisted and distorted. If
you have to give an interview, be sure to emphasize that you are for peace and
justice, but that you think Jewish rights need to be respected as well as
Palestinian Arab rights.

Advocacy as War

There are two aspects to advocacy. One of them is simply spreading basic
information to interested parties. Do not make assumptions about the motives or
political positions of those parties that are not warranted. Arabs and Muslims
are not necessarily anti-Israel. An Arab wrote and asked for a book that
explains Zionism. He just wanted to know. A Muslim wanted information about
Judaism and Zionism in order to make a documentary dispelling common
anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic slanders.

However, the second aspect of advocacy is very much adversarial. "The enemy"
are anti-Israel groups that were formed precisely for that purpose, anti-Zionist
groups using various issues to try to discredit the Zionist idea or anti-Semitic
groups "taking a ride" on the Israel-Arab conflict. The war is conducted using
all the strategies and principles that are set forth in books of strategy
beginning with the "Art of War" by Sun Tzu.
(http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html) The most important ones to remember are:

When at all possible, choose the battleground and the time - be
proactive.

Attack where the enemy is weakest.

Be on the lookout for opportunities and exploit them.

Follow up and reinforce successes.

Do not defend hopeless positions.

When you are strong act weak.

When you are weak, act strong.

Some examples of the above, applied to advocacy:

Choose the battleground - be proactive - Don't wait until there
is an "Israel Apartheid Week" on your campus. Initiate a "Middle East
Peace week" or a "Human Rights week."

Attack where the enemy is weak - Expose the Palestinian record in
peace negotiations and support for terror, where they are weakest,
rather than allowing them to drag you into discussions about the latest
human rights allegations about the IDF.

Be on the lookout for opportunities and exploit them -
When the other makes a mistake or commits an atrocity like burning
churches, be sure people know about it.

Follow up and reinforce successes - If you succeeded in stopping
a boycott initiative in your university, make sure people know about it,
and help others to do the same in their university or union.

Do not defend hopeless positions - If you are alone in an
auditorium full of Kaffiyeh clad students yelling "one state, one state,
Kulu al Ard Arabi!" (all the land is Arab) don't start a fight. Get out.

When you are strong, act weak - People sympathize with the
underdog. Never announce that you are bringing vast resources to bear
against the anti-Israel camp, even if you somehow have such resources.
Don't announce "Public Relations" campaigns. Let the other side be
surprised.

When you are weak, act strong - Groups composed of
only a few enthusiasts or extremists have often created the impression
of being an important movement. They demonstrate, attract
publicity, claim a wide following and pretty soon they may really have
one. Anti-Israel extremists do it all the time. They tell reporters, "We
represent the silent majority of progressive Americans who are sick and
tired of the Zionist Occupied Government." In reality, the group may
have three members. Every large group had to start as a small one.

Advocates of the anti-Israel cause have succeeded so well in part because
they have internalized and applied each and every one of the above maxims, and
because they focus on outreach, rather than preaching to the convinced. They
cultivate churches, unions and women's groups and others that are not Arab or
Muslim, and aren't intrinsically interested in their cause. They also implement
another of Sun Tzu's maxims on a grand scale: Deception.

Deception

Sun Tzu stated "All warfare is based on deception." Palestinians
and Anti-Israel groups have internalized and practiced this percept
at all levels. Hamas and the Fatah have used ambulances to transport
terrorists and arms, and Hamas leaders hid in a hospital during the 2008
Gaza War. Propaganda groups then claimed that Israel committed "war
crimes" by attacking ambulances. The boycott and divestment
campaign, ostensibly aimed at "ending the occupation" is really
aimed at ending Israel. Though the goal is usually hidden, a quote
from a meeting of anti-Israel activists is revealing. The boycott
and divestment campaign is meant to block the two state solution:

http: //www.badil.org/Campaign/Expert_Forum/Haifa/Summary.htm

In the past, we used to assume that our struggle
has two stages: the struggle against occupation and struggle for a
just solution of the conflict and peace. We used to say that the end
of occupation will not bring about an end of the conflict, but is a
condition for the latter. We had short term and long term
objectives, i.e. ending the occupation by means including armed
struggle vs. the debate over one- or two state solutions. The idea
was that the final settlement should take place in a peaceful
context rather than within armed struggle.

Now that we face the paradox of a so-called
‘two-state solution’ without an end to occupation...

Translating from their jargon, they intended to first end the
occupation and then end Israel as part of a "just solution."

The speaker continued:

About sanctions/boycott campaigns as a necessary
means:

- The legitimacy of Israel’s regime must be
challenged for its racism on the one hand, and its colonialist
character on the other. The only way this regime can be brought to
collapse is from outside. We have to call for boycott and sanctions
against Israel.

The speaker gave these interesting instructions:

Divestment, sanctions and boycott campaigns
should be launched in ways that best fit the specific circumstances
of organizers and their constituency...

Translated into regular English, that means, tell whatever lies
you have to tell in order to convince people to support boycott and
sanctions.

Faked photos, fabricated "Zionist quotes" like the recently
exposed "quote" of Moshe Yaalon, the fake Amos Oz Sharon interview
and others, fabricated massacres as in Jenin, organized violence
like the Second Intifadah disguised as a "spontaneous uprising,"
exaggerations of Israeli misconduct in the 2008 Gaza war - all these
are part of the repertoire. There is an ongoing fable about the
"Gaza Siege" that is supposedly causing a "humanitarian crisis." To
support it, candle-light vigils protest electricity cuts, but
electric lights are visible in the background. Photos and videos
show full shops amidst the supposed "famine." We must expose the
deceptions wherever possible. We should keep in mind that they are
usually not that effective. Despite the propaganda about the "Gaza
Siege" aimed at legitimizing the Hamas, western countries have not
yet been moved to recognize the Hamas regime, and even Egypt has not
opened the Gaza border. Everyone understands what the game is about.

We cannot, should not, and do not need to lie. Palestinian lies,
when exposed, are shrugged off by media or excused as the last
resort of the weak. Any error or attempt at deception in Israel
advocacy is immediately pounced upon as a "Zionist PR" trick. The
excuse is that "we expect more from Israel." Unlike its Arab
neighbors and the Palestinians, Israel is an open and democratic
society with a free press. Our own side will not let us lie. Israeli
journalists and historians are often to the first to expose
deceptions. Sometimes they "expose" deceptions that never happened
as well.

Leave the lies to the other side, and expose their lies. Tell the
truth, but do not be naive about telling the truth, because the
other side is not going to be naive either. A hostile interview or
panel discussion is not a pristine academic forum. They are going to
distort any unfavorable information or speculation you give them
about Israel. There is no need to give them ammunition, especially
if you cannot put it into context, and most especially if you are
not sure of your facts. "I heard from another soldier that a third
soldier said that in his unit some people looted Arab homes" is
going to be taken by an anti-Israel audience as a statement of fact,
regardless of whether or not it really happened. It will be taken as
characteristic of IDF behavior even if it only happened one time. Be
aware of the limitations of your audience and the ways in which
statements that are quite true and not necessarily harmful can be misunderstood by people who do
not have sufficient knowledge, or twisted by those who wish to
distort what you say.

Don't Telegraph Your Punches

We are engaged in a war, and the other side views it as such and acts
accordingly. While we cannot and should not lie, discretion and good judgment
about tactics are obviously needed. Israel advocacy groups and Israel government
agencies often announce far and wide that they are starting an Israel advocacy
or Public Relations campaign. This is done by press releases and media events.
These are often the only visible product of their activities ever. Officials
need to show they are doing something and groups need to raise money and
support. These announcements provide an excellent target for anti-Israel
activists who are quick to announce that the "Israel Lobby" is going to spend a
lot of Zionist money to lie to people and use the "Zionist controlled press" to
"shut out the truth" about Israel and Zionism. An announcement that you are
going to be doing "Public Relations" and "image improvement" can be, and is,
interpreted to mean that you are not sincere and that you are about to engage in
lies and trickery. Advocacy for a cause or providing information is not "Public
Relations" in the sense of spin doctoring and should never be confused with it.

Advocacy for a cause or providing information is not "Public Relations" in
the sense of spin doctoring and should never be confused with it.

Be
Proactive Rather than Reactive

A frequent question of volunteer Israel advocates, too frequent, is
something like this: "X has just published a book claiming that all
Zionists have horns and tails, how do I counter it?" or "The
Drive-em-into-the-sea group is running a 'Zionism is Racism' week at our
university, what should we do?" The best answer, though it is not always
accepted, is "be pro-active." If people are already familiar with our
side of the story, have the basic facts and are at least vaguely
sympathetic, then the Zionism is Racism week and the book about Zionists
with horns and tails is not going to have much effect. If on the other
hand, you spend all your time trying to debunk fake Zionist quotes in
the latest anti-Zionist book, you will find yourself in a hopeless
endeavor. The other side can invent a new fib every minute, and it may
take a month to disprove each one. Of course, you should be picketing
outrageous "one state" events and debunking books about the "Ethnic
Cleansing of Palestine," but don't expect that that type of activity
will win many new friends for Israel. At the most, it will limit the
damage a bit. Think carefully about why you are not convinced by the
latest anti-Israel book or the university Israel apartheid week. You
didn't get convinced by some counter-pickets. . In subsequent chapters,
we will explore how opinions are really formed - they are not formed
just by reading a few bits of propaganda.

You have a complex set of knowledge - basic facts and views about
Israel, built up over many years, that tells you that these people
cannot possibly be right. That's what prevents you from falling prey to
propaganda. It is that sort of basic knowledge, that schema of the way
the world works, that narrative, that we must impart to others. It can
only be done by proactive education and advocacy. Proactive advocacy is
the only real way to counter fallacious propaganda.

Advocacy manuals that consist of an aggregation of answers to "tough
questions" are reactive. A strategy that is based only on such manuals
is going to fail. It allows the other side to choose the "battleground"
- the issues, which are often red herrings or fake slogans, and it
allows them to attack where we are weakest. Avoid participation in
panels that discuss loaded questions like "Removing the Israel Apartheid
Wall" or hostile interviewers. You are being used. You are going to find
yourself answering questions of the type of, "How often do you beat your
wife?" - go explain that you aren't married. If you are exclusively
reactive, you are always going to be fighting the enemy on grounds they
choose You will be fending off attacks where you are weakest, and where
they have meticulously prepared their case. You have to be prepared for
these situations, but they can't be the basis of your entire advocacy
program.

Proactive advocacy is the only real way to counter fallacious
propaganda.

Be pro-active - If you understand the basic principles of
advocacy and persuasion, you are in a better position to define the
issues and chose them. Set the "battle field" and make sure the other
side has to answer tough questions about their positions.
Putting across a coherent view or "narrative" requires a coordinated
effort by a large organization or organizations, which is notably
lacking in the field of Israel advocacy. The last chapter in this guide
gives a few examples of possible pro-active campaigns and issues.

Even in reactive and hostile situations, if you are skilled in
presenting materials, can think on your feet in debate, and understand
the major points, you can turn the situation around. Move the debate
away from red-herring "issues," like "proportionality" and empty slogans
about "Israel Apartheid," into the substantive issues and the
unacceptable positions of the other side that these smokescreens are
meant to avoid.

You are a
Zionist, Not Zionism

Be careful to distinguish your own views on specific issues from
those of the Zionist movement or the state of Israel. That frees you
from the burden of defending policies you may not like and allows you to
speak your mind freely (within the bounds of good taste and civility)
and honestly. It frees Israel and Zionism from being saddled with your
ideas in the minds of your audience.

Stick to
the Zionist Issues- "What business are we in?"

Don't ever prostitute Zionism or Israel advocacy in order to advance
a different cause or a political party or issue that have nothing to do
with Zionism or Israel. Don't tell people that "Candidate X is good for
Israel" has anything to do with Zionist advocacy unless it is provably
true. Zionism and Israel have nothing to do one way or the other with
most American or other foreign local issues such as abortion, gay
marriage, drilling for oil in Alaska, or global
warming. Don't use mailing lists constructed for Zionism in order to
"push" these other issues or sell "I am a conservative" T shirts.

Zionism is not anti-Islam and should not be confused with anti-Islam
campaigns and "Islamophobia" or identified with them. However, radical
Islamism is unabashedly anti-Semitic as well as anti-Zionist, and
manifestations of racism in the Muslim and Arab world need to be pointed
out. When Israel is attacked for "human rights violations", it is
legitimate and necessary to point out egregious oppression of
minorities, women, gay people and Christians in Muslim and Arab
societies. However, campaigns against the Qur'an or the Muslim religion,
have nothing to do with Zionism and must be separated from them. Do not
identify Zionism or Israel advocacy with anti-Muslim politicians,
academic figures, and spokespersons.

Sticking to the program is a basic tenet of business administration.
If you are in doubt about an issue, always ask yourself, "What business
are we in?" You are not in the Muslim bashing business or the
anti-abortion business or the global warming business or the anti-global
warming business or the Democratic or Republican Party business. Make
allies with anyone who will listen, but keep focused on your business -
defending Israel and propagating the Zionist idea. Don't make needless
enemies by announcing positions on irrelevant issues and defending them.

Z-Word J-Word and H Word

"Jew" has always been a word with bad connotations unfortunately, but
we are stuck with it. The entire point of Zionism is the right of
national self determination for Jews. A tenacious campaign has turned
"Zionist" into an equally bad word. It is usually and not too subtly used
as a synonym for "Jewish." It is pointless to try to evade the problem,
because whatever we call ourselves, the same groups will attach the
similar sets of slanders to the term. The "Jew Zionist" business is the
business we are in.

"Hasbara" has also undeniably assumed a very negative connotation, as
has Israel advocacy. Anti-Israel groups, to hear them tell it, are never
doing "advocacy" or "PR," they are simply "explaining their position,"
and "demanding their rights." Be ready to expose their techniques and
pretences.

Be aware of these issues and the problems they will cause, even if we
do not have a good solution right now, but don't pretend you aren't
Jewish if you are, or aren't Zionist. Present your case and explain that you are fighting
for your rights and for justice.

Be
efficient and focus your efforts

Ask yourself if what you are doing is the best use of your time and
limited resources. Size of your audience is one criterion, but not the
only one. Not everyone can address a nationwide TV audience or write an
editorial for the New York Times.

Commenting in talkbacks is not usually a substitute for advocacy. It
is important to comment from time to time in certain well-read venues,
but that should not be the organized focus of your advocacy activity.
Occasionally, talkbacks may be read and discussed, but usually they are
forgotten. If the issue you are addressing is marginal and the people
who read your comments are not likely to be convinced by them, then you
are probably wasting your time. Voting in Internet polls is always a
waste of time. Polls in Al-Jazeera,net will always be anti-Israel and
polls in Jerusalem Post will invariably be pro-Israel. One enterprising
person or group produced a fake polling site that was touted for months
as a "CNN poll." The only purpose of the site was to draw partisans who
would click on the advertising. If you can spend that time developing
your own Web log or speaking to a university group or writing a letter
or article for your local newspaper, you are far more likely to have an
impact. If you are known from your own writing, your occasional comments
will also have more importance.

If some obscure anti-Israel group started a tiny Web site or action group around
an issue that isn't attracting much attention, there is no point in
"going after them" because very likely you will only succeed in getting
them some publicity. Any publicity is usually good publicity for a small
group. That's true for your small group as well.

Make
certain you have an issue

Do not start a petition to boycott France or Germany over "Anti-Semitism" or
anti-Israel actions unless you are certain that the facts of the case are
correct. Don't start a campaign over a "false" Palestinian allegation if the IDF
has already admitted it is true and if there is proof that it is true.

There are numerous ways to check allegations. Never send out e-mails or start
an initiative based on the say-so of one person whom you think is a "reliable
source." Check on the Web and ask others for advice. Use the Google search
engine to look for mentions of the issue with the word hoax. For example, search
for Holocaust teaching in UK hoax. Look up the issue in www.snopes.com
and urbanlegends.com, which often list such hoaxes.

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